The Flower Beneath the Serpent
by kissables333
Summary: She had him fooled.
1. Chapter 1

If any of you have read Macbeth, then you may get the slight reference to the quote, "Look like th' innocent flower, But be the serpent under 't." So...I reversed it. Instead of looking innocent and being evil, one looks evil and is actually innocent. :)

I like this one too.

* * *

Emma Harper sat across from her headmaster with her arms crossed. She didn't want to meet his blue eyes; she knew he would see through her stubbornness to the real root of her insistence.

"Perhaps you should tell him, Miss Harper."

"No." She shook her head. Emma could not tell him now—after all he had done to her.

"Mr. Black—"

"—Means nothing to me." she finished as she glared resiliently at the far wall of the headmaster's office.

"He never knew of your assignment. He doesn't know of your façade—"

"And he never will." Her words were short and clipped. She was not messing around any longer. She had a job to do.

"Perhaps—"

"Professor, I cannot trust him. If I told him I'm— who knows who he would tell. I cannot trust him. I was wrong to think I ever could."

_Fifteen Years Later_

He had spent twelve years inside of a prison filled with creatures that strove to rob him of his good memories every moment of every day. After two years on the run, he finally had a place to return to but he never wanted to return here.

He was stuck inside his old home just as he had been stuck inside Azkaban. He wanted nothing more than to be a free man; he wanted nothing more than to have a home that he could live in with his godson. That dream did not appear to be happening any time soon.

For the time being, he wasted his days alone with the exception of the Order members who were constantly in and out of the dilapidated home.

At the moment, he sat alone, staring into the fire that crackled and danced in the heart. He could hear the voices of other Order members downstairs. His ears prickled at the sound of approaching footsteps. He assumed it was just another member roaming the house.

"Hello jail-bird."

Instantly, he propelled himself out of the armchair he was sitting in and point his wand directly at her heart in an instant.

She looked nearly the same as she had the last time he laid eyes on her more than sixteen years ago. The woman looked exhausted; that was the first thing he noticed about her; otherwise, she only looked older. He knew that he, however, appeared ragged, gaunt, and scarred; in the time since he had been incarcerated, he had not been able to shake the demons he gained inside the stone walls of Azkaban.

"Play nice, jail-bird." she chuckled as she rolled her eyes at his defensive stance. It was then he noticed that she had not moved to get her wand. She stood defenseless before him and was not even seemingly bothered by the fact that his wand was pointed directly at her heart.

"What are you doing here?" he demanded wildly. His chest had tightened painfully at the sight of her. He never believed he would see her again.

"What you're doing." she replied smoothly.

"Which is?" he questioned. She was still a fan of vague responses, obviously.

"Hiding."

"I am not hiding!" he yelled. She still had the ability to infuriate him in an instant. The sound of approaching footsteps did not deter the man's yelling. "Get out of my—"

"Ah, Sirius," his eyes snapped for a moment to the doorway. Noting that it was Dumbledore, Sirius Black returned his gaze to the woman standing uninvited in his house. "I see you've met your house guest."

"House guest?" he asked with angry incredulity.

Brushing passed the question as he swept into the room, Dumbledore continued on, "You two know each other, if I recall correctly."

"Albus," Sirius said dryly. "House guest?" he repeated.

"Miss Harper will be staying at Headquarters—"

"No." Sirius interrupted. "She cannot stay in my house—"

"Sirius," Dumbledore began kindly, "If you recall correctly, you have lent your childhood home as headquarters for the Order. Headquarters serves as not only a meeting place for members but a safe haven for members that need protection—"

"Yes," he snapped, "I understand that _members _of the Order are protected here but she does not—"

"You are mistaken, Sirius." Dumbledore said.

Only Sirius' eyes darted to Dumbledore's face. "What?" he asked slowly. "She's—?"

"Yes." A small smile flitted onto Dumbledore's face. "Miss Harper is a member of the Order. A very _dedicated _member. She has made numerous sacrifices for the sake of the Order."

"How long? How long she been a member?" Sirius asked as he slowly lowered his wand and his stomach twisted uncomfortably.

"Since she was—"

"For a long time." The woman broke in. "Longer than you can imagine, jail-bird."

"Don't call me that." he snapped. "Dumbledore, is she like Snape? Did she betray Vold—?"

"No." Dumbledore interrupted. "Her loyalties have never been different. She has been," Dumbledore paused to chuckle lightly, "to use her words 'a Dumbledore man through and through.'"

Sirius' stomach twisted painfully; it couldn't be true. If it was than he had ruined everything for no reason at all. He had— Everything he had done, the pain he put her through, and the pain he put himself through consequently was all for naught. He had been wrong about her.

"No…" he murmured as he allowed his eyes to graze over her again. He couldn't have been wrong. His arms fell to her left forearm that was exposed to the open air. There was the Dark Mark, burned hideously into her light skin.

Sirius raised his wand quickly again.

"She has his mark." he said in agitation.

"Lower your wand, Sirius." Dumbledore requested kindly; Sirius knew enough, however, to know that it was an order, not merely a request. He did as Dumbledore said. "As I said," Dumbledore began as he turned toward the door, "Emma has made many sacrifices for the order. I will leave you to talk." With a final swish of his cloak as he left the room, Dumbledore was gone and they were alone.

"Does it make you feel guilty?" she asked as she raised her deep brown eyes to meet his.

"Does what?" he asked cautiously. He never knew where she was coming from. She always surprised him.

"Does it make you feel guilty to know you were wrong about me?"


	2. Chapter 2

**CHAPTER TWO**

"How was I wrong?" he asked, "How am I supposed to know if you—" Everything he thought he knew was crashing down swiftly. He had not expected the vicissitudes of his life and yet, the one constant he had clung to as justification for his actions had just been proved wrong. She was not who he had thought she was.

"When did I lie, Sirius?" she asked hotly. "I was always honest—"

"Apparently not!" he shouted, angry at her for hiding this secret, for not being who he thought she was. "You're an Order member! I don't remember _that _coming up in any conversations!"

"Given how we left things at school," Emma hissed, "It's hard to consider that you would even _begin _to believe me if I told you the truth."

"You could've said something!" He was blaming her; he couldn't stop the words from slipping from his lips. Everything that had happened between the two of them was _her _fault. It couldn't be his fault; he couldn't take the blame. Things between them had ended because of _her _alliances. It wasn't him. He couldn't take the blame for ruining the best thing he ever had.

"How could I trust you after what you did! You _played_ me; you pretended like you cared about me and in the end, all you wanted was information! You thought I was a Slytherin through and through and that's all you needed to know to condemn me in your mind!"

"You said it yourself! You're a _Slytherin_! Hardly trustworthy!"

"I manipulated the Hat, jail-bird." she scoffed with a shake of her head as she fell into the armchair near the fire with huff. She was staring at him with such condescension; she thought she was better than him, he could feel it. It made him so mad and yet, intrigue captured his focus.

"What?" he asked in confusion, the anger draining from his voice yet again as he watched the firelight dance on her face.

"What about that was difficult to understand? I. Manipulated. The. Sorting. Hat."

"I— how?" A furrowed brow conveyed to her his confusion.

Emma rolled her eyes, "I told it I wanted to be in Slytherin, and it put me there. It's about _choices_, Sirius. We've both made them," she murmured.

_Lips met with passion as she was hardly able to understand her own whirling thoughts. Emma noticed nothing except the heat radiating off his body and the feeling of his blazing touch. He pulled her closer so that she straddled his waist and she sat in his lap as they kissed._

_His mind was just as occupied; his fingers were trembling horribly as he slowly unbuttoned her shirt. Finally, he would be able to see; he knew it was there. It had to be._

_With quivering fingers, he reached up to slide the material from her shoulders before clasping his hands in hers. Gently, he pushed her down so her back hit his bed; her clear, blue eyes smiling up at him. Her face was flushed red and she giggled softly as she ran her thumb against the back of his palm._

_The anticipation was killing him. He needed to know; his impatience gave him away. Sirius broke her gaze; his eyes darted right to graze over her left forearm. He thought it had been a quick peek, but it was not quick enough._

_A soft sound tore from her lips; it was a cross between a pained whimper and a scoff of regret. The sound stabbed him straight in the gut and the wound left behind was gapping and painful._

_She pushed him away and slipped out of his grasp. Emma was muttering softly to herself as she collected her shirt from the ground and slipped it back on. He did nothing but sit on the bed and stared at her back as she buttoned up her shirt with shaking fingers._

_When she spoke, he had hardly expected what she could say. "Did you find what you were looking for?" she asked quietly. _

"_I…" he trailed off, unable to face the truth._

"_You think I'm a Death Eater," she accused; Emma issued her accusation in such a soft tone that it only made his wound worse._

"_Yes." he murmured._

_She turned to face him, fury glowing like embers in her eyes, "You wasted the last five months with me because you wanted to find out if I was a Death Eater."_

"_Yes." he replied, dropping his gaze from her face, unable to look at her any longer and suddenly wishing that she had not turned around at all._

_Forcefully, she rolled up the sleeve of her shirt, showing the bare skin to him. "Does this answer your burning question?" Emma spat, demanding that he grow a spine and look at her._

_She was so angry and he could not believe that he was wrong. He could not believe that he had not foreseen this happening; how could he have not predicted she would walk away? Why didn't he realize that he would lose her? Why did he not imagine the end would hurt much? This wasn't supposed to hurt._

_Emma was at the door in the blink of an eye, but she had one more question to ask. She couldn't leave without finding out._

_Her voice was trembling and she hated how weak she sounded, "Did it mean anything?"_

_The burning in his gut called for him to tell the truth, but he could not. She would leave him, no matter the answer. He had to save himself._

"_No."_

_The door slamming shut behind her was her final response._

"Why would you want to be _put_ into Slytherin?" he forced out, his throat had become quite dry knowing she had been revisiting the same moment he was.

"Death Eaters killed my parents," she murmured. "I wanted to…have a hand in working against _him_. So I decided I would go undercover."

"You were eleven!" he spouted incredulously. "He would've killed you if he had found out—"

"Why do you think I'm here now?" she asked, making it clear yet again that she thought he was stupid. "We think they know. And it wasn't safe for me to stay."

"I don't understand how you—"

"Have you ever read _Macbeth_, jail-bird?" she asked quietly.

"No." he scoffed, wondering if she was just trying to change the topic of conversation.

"Well I did. It was my mum's favorite. She read it to me all the time. There's a line in it that goes, 'Look like the innocent flower, but be the serpent under 't.' It means to look innocent but really be conniving. I figured if I reversed it and seemed evil while being good, I could pull it off." She had a far-off look in her eyes—it was wistful and pained—and Sirius wanted nothing more than to pull her into his arms.

"Emma—"

"I think story time is over for today, jailbird." she said coldly; with that, she stood and briskly left the room, leaving him behind.

* * *

The two of them were hardly the best people to be housemates. They spent most of their time separated from each other; when they were together, they fought. Loudly. Neither was willing to admit to the pull that they both felt when they were together. And to ignore it, they fought.

Emma wanted desperately to get out of that house and be away from him. She yearned for him as she always had; being in the same house as him drove her crazy.

"Albus, I really don't think they know." she explained. "Narcissa wrote me. She asks I come over at my nearest convenience."

"Emma, I believe it is not safe for you to go back—"

"I'll just tell another lie to cover why I was gone. I've been doing it my whole life, what's one more—"

"Our information tells us that it would be dangerous for you to go back, Emma."

"I'm going crazy being here, Albus! I'm not being of any use at all here!"

"You are more useful to us here and alive than you would be there and dead." he reasoned quietly.

"What are you talking about?" Emma and Albus both turned to peer at the doorway, where Sirius stood with his arms crossed.

"Nothing, jailbird." Emma replied with a dismissive turn of her head.

With a smile flitting across his face, Albus said, "Emma has received word from Narcissa Malfoy and she believes it is safe to go return to her undercover work."

"No!" Sirius said adamantly, shaking his head, "Of course it isn't!" An unsettling feeling was creeping up in his stomach. It pulled at him, demanding he stop her.

Scoffing, Emma rolled her eyes, "No one asked for your opinion, jailbird."

"Shut up!" he snapped. The feeling was burning him; he knew, instinctively, that he could not let her go. "Albus you can't let her go. She'll get killed!"

"Oh, what do you care?" she snapped. "Then you can be alone in your house like you want to be!"

"I don't want you dead, Emma!" he shouted, hardly able to believe that Emma would believe such a thing. Unbeknownst to either of them, Albus quietly left the room to give them space.

"Don't bother lying to me! I know the truth!"

"You don't know anything, Emma!"

"I know enough! I know you tricked me! You pretended to care about me for _five _months! You just wanted to be sure that I had a Dark Mark. You were so sure about me." she spat. "You….I was stupid enough to fall for it. I thought you really did care…" she shook her head. "I nearly jeopardized my plan by saying yes. How stupid of me."

"Emma—"

But she wouldn't listen; she brushed past his and locked herself in her room.

* * *

He stood in the same position for a long time, staring at the spot where she had been. It occurred to him that he had her once. He had her and he lost her, as most stories do go. And here she was, living in his house; it was the perfect second opportunity. And he wasn't taking it. He was letting her get away without a fight.

He could not let her slip away again.

Sirius hardly knew what he was going to say as he knocked on her door. She didn't respond, probably because she knew it would be him.

"Emma, please let me in."

She didn't respond; he hadn't really expected her to.

He sighed, "I guess I'll just do this through the door." he bit his lip, hoping the right words would come. "Why would you say yes?" he asked. "Why…if it jeopardized everything, why say yes?" he questioned quietly.

Sirius didn't get an answer; he still hadn't expected one. Sighing again, he had nothing left to say except the truth, "I lied to you, about more than you think. You asked, before you left me that day, if it meant anything. I lied and told you it didn't. I saw the look on your face, Emma. I hurt you and I knew that if I confessed, you would still walk out.

"I couldn't…I couldn't take you rejecting me. I couldn't tell you because I knew you would just leave. And I couldn't take that pain. So I hurt you instead because…because I'm selfish. I didn't mean it, Emma." he pleaded softly.

When Sirius did not get an answer, his heart began to thump louder; he could feel his pulse beating in his brain and that feeling was clawing up his stomach and pulling at his heart.

"Emma?" he asked, worry settling into his voice. His hand fell to the cold doorknob and he opened it with ease. "Emma?" he called again. As the feeling ensnared his throat and made it hard for him to breath, he realized what it was: fear.

The room was empty; Emma was gone.


	3. Chapter 3

The end.

* * *

**CHAPTER THREE**

Fleetingly, he considered the possibility that she had been taken by force, but the room was not disheveled in any way. Only a shadow of a moment passed before he began calling for Molly Weasley. He was not merely yelling for the woman, he was screaming her name while he flew down the stairs with an edge of desperation settled into his voice.

How could he have not recognized it? That familiar look had been in her eyes; it was the very same look she got back in their school days when someone told her she could not do something. It was fierce determination; she was going to do what it was she wanted.

"Molly!"

He should have known she would go anyway. He should have known.

"Sirius, what it is?" she asked, appearing from the kitchen, looking irritable.

"Emma's gone. She went anyway. God, she's going to her death!"

He watched as the color drained from Molly's face, "Oh dear," she muttered to herself.

"Yes Molly! _Oh dear_!" he snapped sarcastically. "She's going to die! Where's Albus?"

"The kitchen, he's having a cup of tea before he goes—"

"Sirius." The headmaster swept into the room from the kitchen below and took in Sirius' erratic appearance. "You need to keep calm—"

"She's going to die and you want me to keep calm? We have to go after her! We have to save her!"

"It is possible that she is correct; perhaps they do not know the truth about her. If we were to go after her, we could possibly risk her story—"

"_Or _we could possibly let her die by not doing anything!"

"Sirius, I understand that this is difficult for you to think about rationally. Think about what is best for the Order and for you. You simply cannot go charging into Malfoy Manor with no plan—"

"I have a plan!" he thundered. "_Save. Her._ That's a pretty brilliant plan if you ask me!"

"You're hardly thinking clearly—"

"Of course I'm not! Who knows how long she's been gone! Who knows what's happening to her!"

* * *

Emma's plan had seemed foolproof at first; surely no one knew she was a traitor, no one could know of her deception. She walked into the Malfoy Manor with her head held high, only to be knocked down to her knees the moment the ornate, heavy doors closed behind her.

* * *

"Get up, Harper."

She hardly knew how long she had been there; time was lost to her with every curse sent from Bellatrix's wand. Emma was not sure how much longer she could take the torture. More so, she was entirely sure that she could not, under no circumstances, tell them what they wanted to know.

Narcissa Malfoy was nowhere to be found; only Bellatrix and a few nondescript Death Eaters were with her in the cold room.

The woman struggled to push herself up off the ground; warm, red blood dripped from her nose as she kneeled on her hands and knees, trying to find the strength to stand. She doubted her legs would be able to support her.

Bellatrix swung back and delivered a strong kick to the woman's ribs, sending her crashing back to the ground.

"I said, get up!" the Death Eater screeched, grasping a handful of Emma's long hair and harshly tugging her up off the ground. Bellatrix put her face right near Emma's sweating and bloody one,

"Where is he?" she demanded. "Tell me where he is." Bellatrix demanded, jabbing her wand at Emma's throat.

Emma kept mum with a defiant shake of her head, causing Bellatrix to let go of her dampened hair and grasp her tightly around the throat instead

"Come on, _Emma_." Bellatrix hissed into her ear as her grip tightened, cutting off Emma's air; "Tell me where my dear cousin is." Emma could not. She could not and would not betray the Order; she would not betray Sirius. Bellatrix's sharp nails began to dig into Emma's skin, sure to leave crescent moon scars on her neck—assuming she got out of there alive.

Angrily, Bellatrix threw Emma down onto the ground, where the woman coughed and spluttered as she gasped to fill her lungs with air. Hardly given a moment to rest, Bellatrix screeched

"Crucio!" Immediately, Emma felt herself shudder and convulse on the cold stone floor. Invisible knives were stabbing into her body over and over again.

"You think you can just walk in here, as if you could fool _him_? As if he does not know what you've done?" Bellatrix screamed in fury.

Emma could not think; the pain was getting to her. She wanted it to stop, but she could not betray _him_.

She opened her mouth, but only to let out a curling scream. Bellatrix lowered her wand and glared as Emma lay slumped on the ground, panting heavily.

"Please," Emma whimpered pitifully. "Please, stop."

"Tell me what I want to know, _Emma_."

With eyes clenched shut tightly, she shook her head, "No." Bellatrix let out a shriek and spat into Emma's face.

"You betrayed him, and for what, Emma?" Bellatrix hissed, pushing her face close to her prisoner's. "What did it get you? Did it _cleanse_ your soul?" she taunted. "The Dark Mark is burned onto your skin, do you think you can really pretend to be anyone that you aren't, Emma?"

To Bellatrix's surprise (and annoyance), Emma let out a weak laugh. "I've been pretending all along, _Bella_."

The Death Eater's eyes widened in shock and Emma continued, knowing Bellatrix would not respond well to what she was going to say. "So what does your great _master_ have to say about _that, _Bellatrix? He was just _so_ easy to trick. All I had to do was say the right things, act a certain way, be in a certain House and he was _fooled._ It was easy, really. Guess he's not so great after all—"

"Crucio!" Emma had certainly succeeded in angering Bellatrix. The curse was the worst one yet. Bellatrix's full force of hatred and rage hit Emma and sent her flying through the air. She landed into a harsh thud onto the unforgiving ground.

The excruciating pain of the curse continued on and Emma found she could not keep her eyes open any longer. She was tired and exhausted; she just wanted a respite from the pain. Things around her began to get muddy and hazy. Emma hardly recognized anything except the pain the curse continued to deliver. Everything was beginning to swirl together as the veil of unconsciousness began to slide over her eyes. Everything had a muted sound.

Shouts.

Doors banged open and hit the walls.

Yells.

Curses.

A distinctive shriek.

And then, "_Emma_!"

Emma closed her eyes and knew no more.

* * *

The plan was simple. Save Emma, as Sirius had said.

And it was extraordinarily simple. Sirius and a few select Order members stormed Malfoy Manor, barging into the room with wands high.

His dearest cousin Bellatrix, and few selected Death Eaters were the only ones in the room.

Sirius looked toward the unmoving mass on the floor that Bellatrix was in the middle of cursing.

"Emma!" he called out, unable to stop himself.

"Sirius, cousin!" Bellatrix sneered as she turned to face him. "So glad you could join us." The other Order members were dueling the other Death Eaters, leaving Bellatrix to him. "We were just talking about you." She smiled, nodding her head toward Emma. "Lovely girl, really."

"Shut up." he shouted, clenching his wand tightly in his hand.

"Hm, now? Don't want to talk about her? She and I have been having quite a lot of fun. Our Emma is quite the screamer. That's probably what you like about her, isn't it, Sirius?"

"Shut up!"

"Come now, don't you want to have a chat with your favorite cousin? Or has the time you've spent hiding away like a dog stolen your wit?"

Sirius said nothing and only watched her with appraising eyes. "If you don't want to play with me, Sirius, I can always go back to Emma." Bellatrix began to flick her wand toward the unconscious woman.

Pulsating rage coursed through his veins. In an instant, Sirius waved his wand and sent his cousin flying back through the air, where she promptly slammed into the stone wall and slid to the ground, unconscious.

"Emma!" Sirius hardly spared a moment as he turned and dashed toward the woman, calling out to her as he ran.

"Emma. Emma, wake up!" he hissed furiously as he slid to a stop next to her, shaking her unconscious body. Fear made him tremble as he picked her up into his arms; he had seen injuries like this before. He had seen what that curse could do.

Frank and Alice Longbottom, who, Sirius knew all too well, lay, with no sense of who they were or who anyone was, in St. Mungo's.

Gritting his teeth, he pulled her closer to him, as if the contact would save her. He could not lose her. Not again. She drove him crazy enough to make him give her an apology and she was going to get better so she could hear the damn thing.

The other Order members had subdued the remaining Death Eaters, allowing Sirius to leave with Emma in his arms.

* * *

She was distinctly aware of a cool fabric on her forehead. Her entire body ached, and she wasn't entirely sure she wanted to open her eyes. The bed she lay in was unfamiliar, but the scent wasn't. He always smelled distinctly of _nature_, as if he had been rolled around in the grass for a few hours. That ever-familiar earthy scent that surrounded him now surrounded her. Mostly, she was aware of the warm hand with hardened skin that held hers. The callused fingers rubbed sweeping circles across the back of her hand. It was such a comforting motion that (especially since she knew what was waiting for her when she opened her eyes) she wanted nothing more than to go to sleep—

"I know you're awake." he murmured. "I know you want to sleep," he continued softly, "but Molly made you soup and I think you should eat it." She wanted to retort that she didn't really give a damn _what_ he thought, but her head was still pounding and she didn't want to aggravate it further by arguing with him.

With a groan, she opened her eyes just in time to see the back of his dark head as he left the room.

Rubbing her eyes, she took in her surroundings. Gryffindor gold and scarlet surrounded her, as did a few Muggle pictures of women and motorbikes. The room was distinctly Sirius.

She turned around to look at the pictures above the bed. There were a few of Sirius and his friends, and then one that made her breath catch. It was of her and Sirius.

A young Sirius, just as handsome as she remembered before he had suffered years and years in Azkaban. And it was she, before the Dark Mark was burned onto her arms.

His arm was around her shoulders in a simple gesture, his hand curled protectively around her. They weren't looking at the camera, hadn't even known the picture was taken until afterward; it was just of them looking at each other—having a wordless conversation that no one else could understand.

The picture had been taken a month before they had broken up; well, she shrugged, it could hardly have been called a break-up. The whole thing wasn't real from the moment it began.

But still, she could not look away because the way he was looking at her _seemed_ real. Then again, that had probably been the point.

"Here." He trudged into the room, with the soup in hand. She whirled around and tried to pretend she had not been looking at the photo. As he handed her the soup, she watched as his eyes flicked to the photograph behind her head.

Emma hoped he would leave her to eat in peace. As he took a seat on the end of the bed, her hopes were dashed.

She could feel his gaze on her as she began to eat her soup.

Unable to take the silence, she spoke, "Why am I in your room?"

"Bed's more comfortable." He mumbled.

Assuming he didn't feel much like conversation, she returned to her soup.

"Are you stupid?" That had hardly taken a long time.

"Honestly, can't you let me have just a _moment_ of peace?" she asked, placing her spoon into her bowl.

"Why?" he scoffed, "You've hardly given me any peace since you've been here!" he muttered indignantly.

"What are you talking about? I've only tried to leave you alone! You know I don't want to be here—"

"Well_ clearly_ you can't be anywhere else without getting killed!" he snapped.

She clenched her teeth tightly together, "I don't know what you mean about always being around. I've tried to give you space."

"And it doesn't matter. Because you're always around. You're always around every corner. I walk into a room and _there you are_. Even if I walk into a room where you aren't, I bloody see something in the room and _think _about you. Even that damn picture." He said, shaking his head. "I come in here to go to sleep and _there you are_."

"Then take the picture down!" she snapped. "I don't even see why you kept it up there."

"Of course you don't." he muttered with a shake of his head.

"Sirius, I don't understand, okay? It was a lie! The whole thing was a lie! You and I— you asked me out because you wanted to know if I was a Death Eater; you wanted to see what information you could get from me. And you got found out. That's it. You can take the damn picture down because it doesn't mean anything!"

Sirius didn't say anything. He merely sat at the foot of his bed and at her. Unable to take his gaze, she dropped her eyes down to the bowl of soup cooling off in her lap.

"I moved out when I was sixteen."

Emma raised an eyebrow in confusion, not understanding his admission. "I haven't been back to this house until I escaped from Azkaban."

"So?"

"So why do you think the picture is up there, Emma?" he shouted, standing up so forcefully that the bed moved; he began to pace back and forth in front of her. "That picture was taken after I moved out. So how do you think it got there? Why do you think I put it up there?"

Her heart was pounded. It didn't mean anything. Nothing at all. He said so himself, so what he was saying didn't make any sense.

"I…I don't know."

"You're a smart woman, Emma! Tell me! Why is it there? Take a guess!" he shouted.

"Sirius, I don't know what you're getting at." She lied. "I'm tired. Look, I'll move back to my room so that you can—"

"Fine." he said, looking irritated. "Then why did you say yes?"

"What?"

"Why did you say yes back at school? If it would have jeopardized your story, like you said. Why?"

"It was forever ago, what does it matter?"

"I need to know, Emma."

"Sirius—"

"Emma, please."

Her voice was trembling at the prospect of telling him the truth. She was afraid of why he was asking, afraid of why he hung that picture up. "I wanted to. I wanted to date you."

Sirius didn't say anything for a moment; Emma felt a flush ride up her face. Horrified, she wanted nothing more than to hide from him forever.

"Stupid." he muttered with a shake of his head.

Scoffing angrily, Emma shoved back the bedcovers, knocking over the bowl of soup as she stood. The liquid spilled out over the sheets but neither cared.

"I'm sorry my having emotions is _stupid_ to you, jail-bird."

"Stop calling me that!" he hissed as she tried to push past him. "And where do you think you're going?"

"Trying to get away from you, _if you don't mind_."

"Sort of do mind, actually." He retorted as he put his hands on her shoulders to keep her from walking past. "And I wasn't calling you stupid."

"Sounded like it to me." she snapped, folding her arms defiantly across her chest.

"Well then maybe you should stop trusting everything you hear." he retorted. "I was saying_ I_ was stupid."

"Sirius," she tried shrugging out of his grip. "Let me go."

"Not again." he insisted. "Because I need you to hear what I tried to tell you before."

"Before when?"

"When I was talking to an empty room because I thought you were in there but you were actually off getting yourself tortured!" he snapped.

"…oh."

"Yes, _oh_."

"Well get on with it." she snapped, hardly able to be in his presence any longer because everything she was feeling combusted and she did something she'd regret.

"I lied to you." he stumbled, trying to remember what he wanted to say. "I told you it didn't mean anything. You were going to leave me, whether I said yes or no. I would've lost you. And I couldn't…I take that. I didn't mean it, Emma."

"I'm hardly able to believe you." she snapped, trying to push him back. "It was a lie. I was pretending to be a Death Eater to get in with _him _and you were pretending so that you could get information. I was lying to them and you were lying to me because I was lying to them. That's it. It was all fake."

"Except I didn't plan on falling for you."

"That's so cliché, Sirius!" she snapped. "And it's stupid. It didn't mean anything."

"Didn't mean anything?" he shouted. "Why would I have your damn picture on my wall if it didn't mean anything?"

"We've gone over this, Sirius, I don't know!"

"Because I care about you! I like you, just like I did at Hogwarts. And if you give me a chance, I doubt it will take long for me to be in love with you!"

"You're ridiculous." she shook her head. "Azkaban has made you delusional."

"No." he shook his head. "You're afraid I'm tricking you. But I swear I'm not. I swear."

He really couldn't think of any way to convince her except to kiss her. So he did. His hands slid over the skin of her neck, which was marked with the shapes of nails, and stopped as they cupped her face gently. She was hardly resisting as he pulled her face to his and kissed her.

Instantly, both their eyes slid closed and he felt her soft hands wrap around his waist to press softly against the small of his back. Fireworks were exploding in her stomach.

"You can't fake that." he murmured as he pulled away from her. "I'm not lying."

"I…" her thoughts were scrambled. For years, she had trained herself to hate him for playing her. And now she was supposed to believe he cared, just like that?

He could see the doubt playing her eyes so he tried to kiss it away. Which worked as she wrapped her arms around his neck and pulled him closer.

When they paused for breath, Sirius had one more thing to say, "I don't care if you go crazy in this house. I'm not letting you leave again. She almost killed you. I thought I lost you and I'm not letting you go again."


End file.
